# data[].attributes.body
"But after the Japanese came, the activities we could do was restricted. We started to climb trees, and played with rubber bands, or we would go the nearby story-telling place to listen to stories. "

Description:
Adapted from an autobiography by Lee Pei Chiok, a teenager during the Japanese Occupation

Website: http://singaporeshistoryjo.weebly.com/blog/entertainment-leisure

Origin: posted on 3/1/2015

Type of source: written

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Question: How far did the Japanese Occupation change the lives of teenagers?

The Japanese occupation changed the lives of teenagers to a great extent when it came to their lifestyles and needs.

Food became much more scarce due to supply and demand; food prices were rising and their families didn’t have the resources necessary to support themselves, leading to teenagers needing to go out and find their own jobs. Source D tells us that food prices weren’t that bad before the war, and Source C is a good example of how much hardship the increase caused while Source H shows a teenager’s lifestyle changing.

Teenagers taking up more jobs however, meant that demand for food was higher. This could have led to food prices continuing to rise as more and more teenagers purposefully work to support themselves and buy food for their family.

Next, the Japanese occupation not only affected a teenager’s personal needs and lifestyle, it changed the way teenagers studied. Source A shows schools teaching students Japanese and how singing the japanese anthem was necessary. This was different from before the war - languages weren't confined to only one, mother tongue and english were options that could be taught to students in schools.

Games were still localized and weren’t affected by the Japanese occupation. They differed only a bit; cinemas no longer showed Chinese but Japanese films, only a few games couldn’t be played. It wasn’t major as teenagers still found games to play - thus games didn’t change, much.

Thus, we can conclude that to a great extent,  the Japanese occupation had changed the lives of teenagers, especially when it came to their lifestyles and needs.

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'Madam Oh was the sold-breadwinner in her family after her father lost his shop. She worked as an assistant nurse in a hospital despite not being trained in nursing...she changed her job to become a salesgirl in a Japanese company...became involved in the black market. She tampered with the sales record...recorded a higher sales figure than the actual case...took the goods to the black-market to sell.

Description:
Oh Choo Neo, a retired teacher who was 17 when the war started on life during the Japanese occupation

Date:
18 October 2003

Origin:
www.hsse.nie.edu.sg/staff/blackburn/OralhistoryJapOccupationChinesefemale.doc life of a chinese woman through the war

Type:
interview

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'She was born in a well-to-do family. Her father sold black silk and they could easily afford luxuries and was living a life of comfort in their wooden-type bungalow. Most of the straits-born Chinese were educated in English and had a higher standard of living than the other Chinese community.'

Description:
Oh Choo Neo, a retired teacher who was 17 when the war started about life before the Japanese occupation.

Date:
18 October 2003

Origin:
www.hsse.nie.edu.sg/staff/blackburn/OralhistoryJapOccupationChinesefemale.doc life of a chinese woman through the war

Type:
interview

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"Before the Japanese invaded, we could play lots of activities. We played with spiders, marbles and cards. Sometimes, we will go to the nearby cinema to watch videos that is being screened. "

Description:
Adapted from an autobiography by Lee Pei Chiok, a teenager during the Japanese Occupation.

Website: http://singaporeshistoryjo.weebly.com/blog/entertainment-leisure

Origin: posted on 3/1/2015

Type of source: written

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description.

Keynote address by Dr Aline Wong.

date.

Friday, 24 November 2000

origin.

www.moe.gov.sg

type.

speech.

https://www.moe.gov.sg/media/speeches/2000/sp24112000.htm

"Under British colonial rule, Singapore's education system was highly fragmented, with schools using different languages as their medium of instruction to teach vastly different curricula...schools using the mother tongue as the medium of instruction, set up by their own communities."

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" I started with a very minimum wage, barely enough to cover for cost to buy food and provisions. ... Of course, there were hard times where I had to endure with very little income for my own self because most of the money that I got as my salary would be used to support my family. There’s also the hardship of work, I would go to my destinations on foot, regardless of its distance, because I had not much money, and sometimes, there’s insufficient food source. Everything was expensive so we had to live by what we could afford. "

Food Shortage Before the Japanese Occupation in Singapore
http://www.hsse.nie.edu.sg/staff/blackburn/oralhistoryJapaneseOccupationMalaymale.doc
Adapted from an Article from 1942
Written Source

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" Food shortages causes food prices to soar, and locals had to resort to their own cultivation of food production. However, this caused much hardship to the people, who’s afford to grow their own food were only partially successful and the price of food are not getting cheaper. And those who could afford it will instead turn to black market to supplement their consumptions. ... during that time, food are scarce and limited, she and her family did not rely too much on others although they still do get their rations in a form of coupons. Wak Mah father had a ‘kebun’ a small garden for plantation behind their house where they grow some crops such as tapiocas etc."

Food Shortage During the Japanese Occupation in Singapore
http://www.hsse.nie.edu.sg/staff/blackburn/orahistoryJapaneseOccupationfemaleMalay.doc
Submitted on 18 October 2003
Written Source

# data[].attributes.body
description.

Interview with Masri Kario about her life.

date.
15 February 1942

origin.

www.hsse.nie.edu.sg

type.

Oral interview's transcript.

http://www.hsse.nie.edu.sg/staff/blackburn/orahistoryJapaneseOccupationfemaleMalay.doc

"Pupils had to learn to speak Japanese and to appreciate the culture of Japan. The singing of the Japanese national anthem was made compulsory."